A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 



863 



as one half of the trees straight and sound and of desirable species. 

 Among the small trees, the inferiority is the more pronounced. Three 

 quarters or more of the trees in this size class are of the less desirable 

 species or defective; and these stands, not having been burned severely 

 or recently, are presumably in better condition than the large areas 

 of cut-over forest that have been fire swept. 



TABLE 6. Proportion of good trees (i. e., straight, sound trees) of desirable species 

 in typical unburned cut-over stands, by forest type 



Reproduction of desirable species, inadequate at best, is hindered 

 in its development by shade and competition. This condition is 

 illustrated in table 7, which summarizes the results of an examina- 

 tion of a typical cut-over area on a better than average site in the 

 mountains of North Carolina. Here the reproduction of desirable 

 species is dominant on 24 percent of the area, but the development 

 of a third of it is being retarded by overhead shade. Only 16 per- 

 cent of the area is stocked with dominant reproduction of desirable 

 species free to grow. 



TABLE 7. Stocking of desirable, dominant reproduction, shaded and unshaded, on 

 a typical cut-over area of better than average site, North Carolina 



The effects of repeated culling of the southern Appalachian forest 

 at short intervals may be summed up briefly. The best species were 

 logged earliest and most persistently; this reduced their seed supply 

 and decreased their abundance in the reproduction as compared with 

 the poorer species. Valuable species have been cut heavily to very 

 small sizes. This has reduced the quality of the second growth by 

 increasing the proportion of the poorer species. The effect of cutting 

 always the best species, large and small, is that of a constant attri- 

 tion, perhaps not marked at any one time, but cumulative and tend- 

 ing toward the elimination not only of the trees themselves but also 

 of means for their natural reproduction in future stands. Moreover, 

 not only the best species but the best trees of all merchantable species 

 have been cut, increasing the proportion of the poorest. Defective 



